A blog devoted to RANTS ON AUTOMOTIVE DESIGN, car reviews, and - above all - fugly autos. whether looking for vehicular plagiarism or rides of extreme tastelessness, you've come to the right place.


Saturday, March 10, 2012

2013 Mercedes-Benz SL


The 2013 Mercedes-Benz SL could have been a looker, if only they chose not to mount though hideous headlights, made that much worse because they're so gigantic.  I think it's mostly the fault of the blob-like light piping / LED section on the upper edge.  If that were a thin strip on the upper edge with quad circular reflectors below it would look infinitely better.  It's a shame as it's mechanical improvements and weight reduction most likely make it a better driving car.  Pictured here is the recently unveiled SL63 AMG.  Note that the revised lower fascia with larger, more aggressive air intakes are still overwhelmed by the brutal headlights sitting above them.

Here's my quick and dirty fix for the headlight units.  Overall I think they would look better as smaller more intergrated units.

Bentley EXP 9 F(ugly)

Are those satellite dishes or fog lamps?

Behold the Bentley EXP 9 F, the awkwardly named Bentley concept that foreshadows it's upcoming SUV. Not digging the headlights, or the little mini-grilles on their inside edge either. I think it would look much better to get rid of the grilles and move the headlights inward so it looks a bit more like the Mulsanne. And replace those fog lights/running lights with something that doesn't look like a Star Wars prop.

The side and rear end are much better, but there's still a few iffy areas.  The dash to front axle length looks really short which makes it look like a FWD based crossover.  Due to that has less of that long hood look of the sedans that implies a massive engine lies beneath.  And those wide rectangular tail lights make the rear end kinda look like an 80's Range Rover - upscale but not exactly current, and at odds with the rest of the truck.